The England youngster has scored one league goal during his time in the red and white of Arsenal, and he admits it is the one area of his game that he is striving to improve.

Arsene Wenger recently said Wilshere could emulate the success of Cesc Fabregas at the heart of their midfield, describing him as a "complete footballer". However, Wilshere insists he can learn from the likes of Gerrard, who has scored 90 league goals for Liverpool and Lampard, who has netted 189 career goals from midfield.

"You've got to watch the greatest, like Gerrard and Lampard, because their goalscoring records are up there with the best," Wilshere told Arsenal's official website. "You've got to watch players like that and you've got to work on it in training as well.

"I think the main thing is not to be obsessed by it. I don't want to be finding myself as a striker in every game. My role in the team is to defend and attack. I have to do both sides.

"I have to get in the box and on Wednesday night the ball fell for me nicely. How many times that happens in a year, I couldn't tell you.

"For example, against Tottenham, when I broke through I could have shot earlier so I'm working on things like that. I'm watching [the game] afterwards and I'm analysing."

Arsenal head to Aston Villa in front of the ESPN UK cameras on Saturday, having announced a new five-year deal with Emirates worth £150 million. They will hope the feel-good factor from that deal, in addition to qualifying for the last-16 of the Champions League, translates to a victory at Villa Park as they look to close the four-point gap to fourth place.